Hop picking was a wonderful way for poorer families to get away on a working holiday. Many people would travel from the East end of London to the hop fields of Kent to work for little money but also the chance to enjoy each others company and the congenial socialising of sharing a very happy time. The hours were from 7am to 5pm and the accommodation comprised of small huts, each family would have their own fire and when the work was finished we would all sit round and chat and laugh about all sorts of things, it was a bit cramped and you couldn't get any privacy at all, but it was all good fun, and we did get to know each other very quickly because we were all together in a small space. We didn't have much money the same as a lot of families there, but we were allowed to get a sub from our wages to see us through, and at the end of it all apart from having a good time we ended up with about five or six bob, which is actually 30 pence in today's money, that was ok because some people spent money after work as they went to the pub. Uncle Arthur spent most of it there but we didn't mind, he was the life and soul of our family and always started off a sing song and got everyone to join in, though they didn't need much encouraging.

We had to pick the hops from strings and poles and fill our baskets which were then weighed by the tally man, sometimes we would sing in the fields while we worked, it was hard work and our hands got cut and sore from the picking yet it never stopped us enjoying ourselves in our free time. Will my young brother cut his hand quite badly and got a nasty infection probably picked up by having to use the dunny which was a crude toilet, and it was shared by all and about the worst thing there, it was the only thing I didn't like because I never noticed the hard work of it all. It was just nice to get away and out in the country and be among friends with my family. Our mother brought lots of stuff with us and made the hut comfy, we had bedding put over straw, and pans for cooking and she made a good stew over the fire. We talked till late on after work, and children played games, some of the men got drunk, they may not have been looked on too well by the villagers but we weren't all like that. My brother Will, me and friends did go scrumping apples though.

It was good to get away from school and the East end for a while and have a good time, and our parents allowed us to play truant for it, some villagers couldn't understand our rabbiting - talk, which is Cockney rhyming slang, we still use it today. All the money in the world couldn't make up for those happy days, and that's what counts, happiness.

Anonymous

Note
Here are a few links I have added about hop picking And a very interesting video
Pamela

www.hoppingdowninkent.org.uk/payment.php

www.scienceandsociety.co.uk/results.asp?image=10455745

http://uk.video.yahoo.com/watch/3186063/9017282





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